New crew arrives at the space station

HOUSTON, April 10 (UPI) -- Two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. private citizen comprising Expedition 15 have reached the International Space Station.

Expedition 15 commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, flight engineer Oleg Kotov and spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi arrived at the space station in a Soyuz spacecraft Monday afternoon, two days after their launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Simonyi, flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency, is to return to Earth with the Expedition 14 crew on April 20.

Expedition 14 commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin have been living on the ISS since Sept. 18.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials in Houston said flight engineer Sunita Williams, who rode Space Shuttle Discovery to the station in December, will remain onboard the ISS and join Expedition 15.

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